A Shimmering Reminder
by Jodie Takira
Summary: Though he wouldn't confess it... Sonic knew he wasn't coming back... but would his young companion believe him? Inspired by Ecea, this story touches the thoughts of Sonic months after the ARK incident.


**A Shimmering Reminder  
**  
**By:** Ibuki/Yoli the Wonderer  
  
**Disclaimer:** Nope! Don't own anything but this story, hai! NO, this isn't yaoi thank ya very much.  
  
Special thanks goin' out there to Ecea who asked me to do this between the lines of a review that really made my day! Hope ya like it!

* * *

He crossed the room again... and again. It was almost as if he was waiting for something to happen, something to draw his attention away from the sounds of his feet dragging along the floor. Other than that and the swish of his fur, all else seemed to remain silent as if foreboding something that was to come...   
  
But that was not so... No one was coming. That he knew for sure... or he was pretty sure at least. Stopping abruptly, he gave his head a swift shake, steering his thoughts away from that... and then sighed as he looked down...  
  
There, shimmering innocently in the palm of his right hand, was an all too familiar bracelet. He hadn't looked at it since ARK... To him, it had felt if he had not gazed at it for a while, it would change... or maybe disappear, disappear and prove him wrong... which he would entirely wish for... Yes, for once, he wanted to be wrong... but why?  
  
Why would he sink that far? Every time he thought about it, he found it as if he was starting to go... mad. Yes, that was the word for it. It felt disturbing, the whole idea. His best friend, no, brother more likely, looked up to him. He couldn't expose a weakness. He wanted to be strong, wanted to show that nothing, absolutely NOTHING could effect him severely, but it was growing harder to hide with each stride he took whenever he was around his young companion. In fact, he was worried that at any moment he would expose himself, show the kid the truth that he had always been wrong about it.... about whether the ebony hedgehog called Shadow had survived or not...  
  
Yes, he had told his twin-tailed friend known as Miles Prower, Tails he named him by his obvious unique trait, countless times that the 'ultimate lifeform' had yet to fall. Of course, with Knuckles or Amy around sometimes when the young kit, naive of his worries, brought up the subject and he had to convince Tails to continue believing what he had said over the unnerving comments of his older companions. Still, he had kept the youth true to believing him so far...  
  
But for how much longer could he pull it off? That he didn't know... and sometimes it bugged him beyond belief. What if the kid found out the truth that he was really unsure of what had happened to Shadow? What would Tails think? Would he hate him for lying all this time? Would he-  
  
A sudden knock at the door to his apartment made him jump slightly, his ears twitching from the sudden noise that broke, through the barrier of silence that had earlier emitted like an aura about his private quarters. His head jerked to look to the entrance. Was he hearing things? Sure, he had wondered slightly about if anyone would visit, but he hadn't really thought it true. No, not at all. He was indeed hearing things... Yes, that was it. Nothing to worry about-  
  
Another knock on the door summoned him. This time a voice joined it, a young one at that. Familiar too. He shut his eyes tight. He was dreaming, right? Really, who would visit him at this time at night? The voice called again.  
  
"Sonic...? Sonic... are you there?"  
  
He wasn't dreaming. Someone had really come to him at this time, someone that sounded nervous, doubtful. He knew who it was before he had even reached the door to open it.  
  
"Hey keed... What are you doing here so..." He trailed off as he noticed the tears in the young kitsune's eyes.  
  
"....Sonic.... Why did you...?"  
  
"Why did I..." Again, he trailed off. he knew what was coming...  
  
"...Why did you lie to me...?" Tails had found out. He knew the truth after all these months of keeping his hopes up, holding his beliefs firm under the dreadful weight of loss that ever so existed. He knew that the 'ultimate lifeform', Shadow the Hedgehog, was dead. And just as Sonic realized this, it also seemed to dawn on he, himself.  
  
It was almost as if someone had dead told him right out as tears rimmed his own eyes. Suddenly taking up Tails in a tight hug, he held back a shuddering sob from escaping his lips just as the young fox broke down into his shoulder. Now more than ever, he couldn't show any more weakness. He had to be strong for the youth.  
  
"Easy.... Easy, keed. It's gonna be alright..." he spoke though his tone seemed a bit hoarse as realization continued to sheer through his being.  
  
He was dead... Shadow was really dead... He was never going to come back... No matter how much he wished otherwise...  
  
Hearing a whimper, Sonic shook his head back into reality before looking down at the young kitsune. Sighing, he gave Tails a gentle pat on the back, trying to comfort him as best as he could, surprised that the kid hadn't thrown a punch instead.  
  
"It's alright, keed... It's gonna be alright..." He murmured this continuously, giving his bangs a slight ruffle. "It's gonna be alright..."

* * *

Sonic looked to the young fox who was standing beside him, then the lake, then back to the kit.  
  
"Are you sure about this, Tails?" he asked.  
  
It had been a few days since the incident at his apartment. He and Tails had traveled to the graveyard, bracelet in hand. His young companion found that maybe if...  
  
"...We can throw it in the lake... and he'll come back to find it... and we'll see him one last time!" Tails stated, nodding with a slight firmness to it. Bright as the kid was, he still believed in childish dreams... but that didn't mean Sonic was bothered by this. No, it was never right to spoil the innocent beliefs of a kid.   
  
Nodding in turn with a faint smile creasing up his lips, Sonic spoke as he handed the bracelet over, "Throw away, keed."  
  
And Tails did. With a sharp swing of his arm, he sent the bracelet soaring through the air, sparkling from the sun reflecting off of its smooth surface before dropping with a slight 'plop' into the glimmering lake. And then they climbed up a nearby hills and sat among the graves waiting... and waiting.... but still nothing...  
  
Tails frowned... and then tears started to rim his eyes again... Maybe he wasn't coming... Maybe he had forgotten about the bracelet he had lost... or maybe he couldn't find his way... All of his conclusions led up to one final thought... Shadow wasn't coming...  
  
"Tails, look!" Sonic called suddenly, pointing up to the sky. The kitsune's bright baby blue eyes darted upwards just in time to see what appeared to be a comet gliding along the colorful evening sky as dusk was setting in and slowly descending down near the lake. It seemed to give both him and Sonic a sort of wink before disappearing.  
  
"Shadow..." Tails murmured, his eyes glimmering wildly.  
  
"Yeah, keed, that was Shadow alright. Just flew by to say hi," said Sonic, grinning slightly as a burden seemed to be lifting off of his back.  
  
"I can't wait to tell the others!" the kit called with glee.  
  
"Why don't we go tell them now?"  
  
"Alright, race you there!"  
  
"You're on keed!" Laughing, their spirits rising like never before, the duo raced off, clearing the graveyard and running along the old park. Sonic glanced up into the darkening sky and he could have sworn that he saw a little girl and a familiar hedgehog looking to him... and he smiled.  
  
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Dromar: Yis, reviews are good for the soul...  
  
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